A Man Livestreamed The Boulder, Colorado Mass Shooting And YouTube Refuses To Take The Video Down

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On Monday afternoon, 10 people were killed during a mass shooting in a grocery store in Boulder Colorado. During the shooting a man was livestreaming the attack as it was happening. He is now facing harsh criticism from people over filming during the time.

Dan Schiller, who was later identified as a citizen journalist, entered the grocery store to film on his cellphone when he realized there was a shooting happening inside. His livestream on YouTube had reached more than 30,000 viewers as the scene went live. In the video you can see Schiller showing lifeless bodies on the ground.

“Oh my god. Guys, we got people down inside King Soopers,” Schiller tells his livestream viewers.

Schiller also films a man who was handcuffed by police who seems to be wearing only underwear and had blood covering his leg. This was later identified as Ahmad Al Aliwi, who police have now confirmed was the shooter.

After hearing two more gunshots, Schiller exits the store and films from the parking lot. Police eventually removed him from the area along with other media outlets surrounding the scene.

Once Schiller’s livestream went viral, many people on social media expressed their anger towards his actions. He appears to walk by victims as he films without trying to help anyone.

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For many, seeing the livestream was the first they had heard about the shooting. Viewers are saying that the livestream is not something that should be available for the public to view and that it’s disrespectful towards the victims to air the video on YouTube.

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Although YouTube has community guidelines against violent and graphic content, the company has yet to take down the video. YouTube has reportedly decided to leave the video on the platform because it is sufficient news.

“We do allow certain violent or graphic content with sufficient news or documentary context, and so we’ve applied an age restriction to this particular content,” said YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez. The video currently has over 700,000 views.

The suspect of the shooting was taken into custody and has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Police have now identified the 10 victims.

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There is now a GoFundMe dedicated to raise money for the families of the victims.

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